Celebrating Bats for Ireland’s National Heritage Week
To celebrate Ireland’s National Heritage Week, we were delighted to host two bat-themed events that brought people together to learn more about Ireland’s remarkable bats, the places they depend on and the practical steps we can all take to help protect them.
We began with an engaging introductory talk exploring Ireland’s nine bat species. Attendees learned about the pressures bats face in an increasingly busy modern landscape, from habitat loss and disturbance to the impacts of lighting and changes in land use. The session also highlighted simple, positive actions that households, communities and land managers can take to make a difference, including protecting roosting and foraging habitats, reducing unnecessary artificial light at night, and supporting bat-friendly green spaces.
For our second event, we headed to Curragh Chase Forest Park for a guided bat walk. After a wet spell, we were lucky to have a welcome gap in the rain, giving us time to explore the park as dusk settled in. Using bat detectors, the group enjoyed fantastic activity from Leisler’s bats and pipistrelle bats as they fed overhead and along the woodland edges. A few sharp-eared participants also thought they may have heard a passing lesser horseshoe bat!
We were also delighted to be joined at both events by graphic recorder Hazel Hurley, who captured the key messages, highlights and suggested actions through her fantastic illustrations. Hazel’s visual recordings helped bring the conversations to life and provided a colourful reminder of what we can do locally to support bats and biodiversity — see her fantastic work at the start of this page or download it here.
A huge thank you to everyone who joined us, asked questions and shared their enthusiasm for bats. We are also grateful to our event partners: the Heritage Council, Limerick City and County Council, Hazel Hurley Designs, Limerick Bat Group and Coillte.
This event was funded by Limerick City and County Council. Our engagement work is supported through core funding from the Heritage Council and the Irish Environmental Network.